Suggestion of Subdivisions in Cary,NC

[Funky Chicken]

Originally Posted by Beermat

yes I fully agree and it is almost as big a travesty of injustice as the guy on Maynard Road with the ToC red paint sign.
My comment was directed to the poster who was suggesting that Cameron Pond homes would appreciate as they currently are $100k less than original price. In my opinion, the utility poles make the homes almost unsellable in the current real estate market at any sensible price - add the 540 extension in the next year of so and the problem is compounded.

I wasn't suggesting that those homes might appreciate-on the contrary.

The combination of 540 coming and the buffer debacle will prove to permanently devalue Cameron Pond. It is a prime example of why you MUST be full-on insane about researching ownership of adjacent parcels of land when buying new construction.

I know the buffer issue couldn't be anticipated, and while Impact did NOT do the right thing the possibility existed that Progress Energy would have simply taken the buffer themselves-they had the right to simply condemn and take the land. That would have sucked, but less than Impact accepting payment for the buffer and then decieving potential buyers. Once again, though, Progress's purchase was PUBLIC RECORD. These are the things that homebuyers owe it to themselves to investigate. You can't depend on your real estate agent (no disrespect to the top quality agents who participate here)-it's YOUR money, YOUR home, YOUR future.

Get on wakegov.com and learn how to navigate it. Got a question about values/demographics/comps? IT'S ALL THERE. Want to see what is adjacent to a home or lot you are looking at? The Imaps program will show it to you. You could see the 540 corridor on Imaps before a single home closed in Cameron Pond-all you had to do was look.

Imaps won't protect you 100%. I moved out of West Cary because of what developed adjacent to my home, and I knew it was coming-I just didn't really picture it the way it ended up. I was fortunate to get out when I did-I bought early enough to make money on the house as the market began to slide.

My new house (also in Cary) has probably lost about 5% of its value since I bought it, but I'm certain that the old house has fallen further than that. That's not good news, but what I DO have is the house I want on a lot that I will NEVER have to make any apologies for.

People are constantly tweaking their 401k and investment accounts-that stuff is all greek to me. What I CAN control is whether or not there is a HIGHWAY in my BACKYARD-all I have to do is not buy that house.

West Cary values are generally down. Cameron Pond closed a huge number of homes during the peak of the market (as did many other West Cary neighborhoods the OP is considering). It would be a struggle for anybody who lives in Cameron Pond to get their money out of their home if they tried to sell it today no matter where their lot is.

That said, having 540 in your backyard (no matter how deep the buffer or how thick with trees it may be) can never help your home's value. If you buy a home that backs onto the 540 corridor in any neighborhood at any point in time you take a risk. This includes the people in Scotts Mill and Kelly West in Apex who figured that the funding would never come for 540, and the people buying right now in Woodcreek in Holly Springs. It's why Brookshire Manor off of West Lake Road can't give away homes, and why certain homes in Jamison Park will have trouble selling even if the Southern Leg of 540 has no funding and no start date.

Whenever I speak to someone who bought property adjacent to 540 their commentary is pretty much the same-"it's no big deal...we knew it was coming...it won't bother us". Sorry, but that sounds like denial to me.

The time to figure out that your house is in a compromised location is before you buy it.

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by Funky Chicken

...
The time to figure out that your house is in a compromised location is before you buy it.

So.... "Backs to wooded area" in a description or listing isn't good enough?
Ranks right up there with "Priced bazillion$ below tax value!" doesn't it?
Absolutely a good post, FC. Too soon for me to toss you a CD cookie.

If one clicks around IMAPS enough, one can learn to be very suspicious about tracts of land abutting subdivisions. And one can also learn to be uneasy about whether you have the full picture.
It also pays to get into recordings and plat maps in the Wake County Recorder's site, as the notes can be interesting.

540 path has been obviously very clear for years, but on-site agents have not been compelled to disclose.
And for years all along the corridor builders have, as a rule, built out and sold the side of the subdivision that is closest to the corridor to get homes sold prior to visible and audible evidence of the highway on the ground.

Of course, there are tracts that are not identified in the IMAPS that are sure to be part of the highway corridor.
Something about a long skinny tract with no ownership record that connects two NCDOT-owned long skinny parcels makes me a little uneasy, and willing to default my opinion to a future 540 highway use.

[3muskateers]

The 540 is coming quicker and for all the people wishing for the new construction in West Cary...it sure does come with a price. Hilliard Forest (Ryan Homes area) that is going to impact that development a great deal, no matter where you are in the subdivision (at least in the phase 1 part) Along with the widening of the rd (not good) don't sugar coat it, Trees will not block out the SOUND! be a smart consumer!

[VickiR]

Look at the n'hoods that were impacted when 440 was built!

There were homes that had to be moved! Those were the lucky ones. They got paid for their homes. The homes that were within EARshot or EYEshot were not so lucky. Their property values went DOWN.

Learn from that. 540 Is coming. Sometimes plans are tweaked. Are you a risk taker?

Vicki

[JQ Public]

Great thread